An Open Letter to Conservatives Pissed Off at Wall-E

By ALAN SCHERSTUHL

New and old liberal symbols?

Dear conservatives:

Nice to finally meet you. Long time, first time and all that. Recently, I’ve enjoyed your blog posts, reviews, and message board postings and editorials about how Wall-E is an anti-corporate, environmental polemic crafted by Hollywood elitists to indoctrinate our kids.

Like you, I don’t care for entertainment that gets too pushy with its political agenda— Lord knows I’ll never shove my way through a second Orson Scott Card novel. But, really, you’re reaching here. The key “political” elements of Wall-E are so over-the-top satirical that they have little to do with the politics of 2008. Worse, when you assume that they do somehow reflect the current political garbagescape, you betray a self-image problem far more horrific than any binge-and-purger’s.

Spoilers follow after the jump: